Eight Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions

If you keep good records, deductions can be a great way to reduce your taxable income. Increasing your allowable deductions means the less tax you owe and the more money you get to keep.

To maximize your deductions, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with tax rules -- there are likely many deductions you're missing out on.

A number of deductions that get overlooked quite a bit are called "deductions subject to the 2% limit." These deductions are only deductible to the extent that they are more than 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). You figure your total deductions subject to the 2% limit on Schedule A by subtracting 2% of your AGI from the total amount of these expenses. For example, if your AGI is $40,000, your deduction would be limited to those expenses over $800 (2% of $40,000).

To get you started, here's a list of eight commonly overlooked tax deductions subject to the 2% limit: